obsidian black ● jason grace

I

Daria almost wished she could stay on the combusted ship.

    They had all made it out alive, somehow. Currently, Frank was a huge gray dragon; he held a terrified Percy in one claw and a calm Annabeth in another, and an elfish Leo was riding on his back. Hazel and Piper were riding below on Arion, the horse that seemed to turn up out of nowhere.

    Jason held onto Daria's waist; she didn't want to look down, but it was too compelling. The earth was like a great obsidian spiral getting closer and closer. They meant to aim for the middle of Camp Half-Blood, but Jason was still dazed. It looked like they were going to land in the shrubbery, a few meters away.   

    Daria squinted. She could make out the Fifth and most of the First cohort on one side, the Second, Third, and Fourth separated from the pack, they seemed to be taking the brunt of the attack. Someone had to help them.

    Jason seemed to see the same thing. "Frank!" He yelled. "Those three cohorts are in trouble! If they don't merge with the rest of the demigods –"

    "Got it!" Leo yelled back from the wings. Frank the dragon veered to the left, Annabeth yelling about battle and Percy yelling something that was definitely NSFW.

    Like Daria had predicted, they landed messily among the trees. If they went backwards, they would reach the Camp, if they went forward, they would be surrounded by monsters. Camp was closer, and besides...

    "If I can rally the First..." She thought out loud.

    "Yeah," Jason agreed. "Let's go to camp." They ran, racing low through the forest so that any lurking monsters couldn't spot them. This, Daria was used to. This she could do.

    But it also gave her time to think about this morning. Apollo wasn't the only one who had been tempted by fate. If she had the power to see when she would die, she was going to use it.

    They entered the clearing, well, almost did. Daria slammed body-first into a well armored Michael Kahale, who looked at her like she had just come back from the dead. Then, he crushed her in a metally hug.

    "About time!" He exclaimed. "And Grace, good to see you too, man. Reyna's holding them off over there, she doesn't need your help but..."

    "It'd be nice," Jason finished with a crooked grin. "Nice to see you too, Kahale." As if he was being propelled by a puppeteer, he awkwardly stumbled forward to give Daria a kiss on the cheek, then with all the elegance in the world tripped up to meet Reyna and Nico di Angelo.

    Daria and Michael sprinted in a different direction. Daria could see why they were being beaten so badly: the First Cohort swung their swords as if they'd been handed a death sentence. Their faces were somber, displeased. They watched carelessly as the monsters gained ground.

    "I tried to rally them," Michael muttered. "But no time for that. Go. Lead your Cohort. I'll be right behind."

    Daria nodded back but doubted he could see. She stood behind her Cohort, her friends, the people she had grown up alongside. "Legionnaires!" She called. "Come on, I know you've got more energy than that!"

    Everyone snapped to attention at the sound of her voice. She heard mutters of finally which was fair, she'd been MIA pretty much since the end of the Titan War. She wouldn't blame her Cohort if they were a bit disappointed in her.   

    One lone voice stood out. Eliana Gomez, one of their youngest, most promising recruits. "Ave, Primus Pilus!"

    The cheer washed over the troops in isolation, and for a horrible moment, Daria thought her Cohort was going to ignore the cry. Then, the legionnaires started clamoring, they looked to Daria for their next command.

    "Here's what we're going to do," with a stamp of her foot, she sent a tremor that caused a good majority of the gorgons to fall. "Revertere! We're going to go back to the Camp and join forces with Reyna."

    "We don't want Reyna," Marcus called. "We want you!"

    Daria snickered. "That sounds like treason, Marc," she said lightly. "Okay, First Cohort, follow-"

    "What is the meaning of this?" A voice shrieked. "How dare you take orders from her!"

    The legionnaires looked between Octavian and Daria. With a shrug, they followed Daria's command; she let everyone pass her, leading from behind.

    "You can't just-" Octavian screamed. "Ugh!" The Cohort was well on the way now, leaving Daria to deal with Octavian.

She sighed. It had to be done sooner or later.

    "Octavian, you and your followers killed Nathan Vargas," she snapped. "I'm not inclined to show you mercy at this moment but-"

    She didn't finish her sentence. The front of Octavian's breastplate started seeping with blood, so much so that it dripped onto the ground. He had been stabbed from behind, but Daria didn't draw her swords. "Michael," she whispered. "Did you just...?"

    Michael didn't look remorseful. He pulled the dagger out of Octavian's body, but it was Imperial Gold, Octavian was already dead. He slumped to the ground. "He killed Nathan," Michael said simply. "He's a traitor to the legion, he deserved to die."

    "Maybe," Daria replied shakily. "But you weren't supposed to be the one that killed him."

    Michael turned away from her. "We've got to hurry."

    Daria stared at Octavian's body; limp on the forest floor. "Okay."

    By the time they saw Reyna, Daria had forced herself to not think about it.

    "Greeks!" She heard Percy yell. "Let's um, fight stuff!"

    "Gotta love the Greeks," Dakota muttered, appearing out of nowhere. "How's it going, Dars?"

    "No time for chit chat," she scolded them. "Go lead your Cohort."

    Dakota rolled their eyes. "Yes, Daria."

    Michael had vanished, and Daria wasn't particularly inclined to seek him out. Besides, they were in the midst of a battle. She found her way to Reyna's far right, where she always was. "First Cohort, Oppugnate!"

    With a cheer, they charged with the rest of the legion. The orges didn't stand a chance.

"Now," she mused. "Where is-?"

AWAKE, a voice boomed all around them.

A hundred yards away, at the crest of the next hill, the grass and soil swirled upward like the point of a massive drill. The column of earth thickened into the twenty-foot-tall figure of a woman – her dress woven from blades of grass, her skin as white as quartz, her hair brown and tangled like tree roots.

    Gaea.

    She cleared the space with a swipe of her hand. Daria winced as demigods slammed into trees. Distantly, she could make out Clara and a boy with blond hair rushing around to check their injuries. They were brave, Daria found herself thinking. Gaea could take them out any minute.

    Annabeth started forward, but Daria sidestepped and blocked her. My fight, she hoped her body language was saying. Stay out.

    Thankfully, Jason was somewhere else. Daria could see lightning mixed with sparks of fire, which probably meant Leo. Either way, she didn't need her boyfriend charging one of the oldest goddesses in the world with only his gladius.

    "Mother," she said timidly. Daria took a step back into the clearing. There was no one within several meters of her, everyone was busy fighting their own battles. She planted her feet into the solid ground and drew her swords. She repeated herself, louder. "Mother!"

    Gaea focused her attention on Daria; she hissed as if Daria was taboo, but Daria wasn't deterred.

    "The only way you get to my friends," she said firmly. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Annabeth put a hand on Reyna's shoulder and shake her head. Piper and Percy stayed back. Nico di Angelo nodded: you can do this. "Is through me."